Celebrity TransAtlantic Cruise - Activities

[In Toronto]

We are considering a Trans Atlantic cruise April 2022 on the Reflection.  

With so many sea days, I am just a little concerned that it may not have enough entertainment.  We do love sea days but need to be kept at least somewhat busy.  We are not interested in Bingo, or Art Shows or Shopping lectures.  We do enjoy lectures on a variety of subjects, as well as games i.e. Crazy Golf, Scaventure Hunt, etc.

Any help from those who have sail a Trans Atlantic cruise on the Reflection or any of the Celebrity ships?

We are in our 70s.

Thanks.

Ellen

[Orator]

Too much to do than you can possibly attend. Lectures, lecture and more lectures. They often have 3 or 4 lecturers onboard. No Bingo, but cooking events and poolside games. They normally have entertainment in the theater on some sea days. There are art auction, but you can miss them. Be sure to sign up for the Cruise Critic gathering for your cruise. A TA is full and usually the Senior Of At the present time there are Covid restrictions on large gatherings. 

 

Note: At he current time Celebrity has restrictions on large gatherings, but hopefully they will be lifted by the time of your cruise.

Edited May 27, 2021 by Orator

[sandancer]

Have you checked out our rollcall for this cruise?  Lots of information over there. 

[Orator]

2 minutes ago, sandancer said:

Have you checked out our rollcall for this cruise?  Lots of information over there. 

Great idea to check the Roll Call. Many times the passengers organize events such as slot pulls, card ands board games, special luncheons and excursions to name a few.

[Fouremco]

Sea days for me mean participating in an event or two and catching up on my reading on my balcony or a quiet corner somewhere else on the ship.

[Arizona Wildcat]

We prefer TA cruises.  There are numerous activities and your roll call with likely have everything from Bridge to dominoes organized.  Lots of movies in the theater and a couple speakers each day.

. . . Or you can just relax and read a book, go to the spa or do nothing at all.

[lola2013]

This October will be my first TA...also on Reflection.  As excited as I am about the ports we will visit, I can't wait for the sea days crossing the Atlantic.  We spent five days crossing the Pacific a few years ago on Solstice sailing from Hawaii to Vancouver.  It was a little chilly to sit at the outdoor pool, but we spent plenty of time at the indoor pool which was then typically followed by a nap before dinner.  I'm sure we will check out the other activities, but it's all about R&R for us.

[Host Kat]

4 hours ago, In Toronto said:

We are considering a Trans Atlantic cruise April 2022 on the Reflection.  

With so many sea days, I am just a little concerned that it may not have enough entertainment.  We do love sea days but need to be kept at least somewhat busy.  We are not interested in Bingo, or Art Shows or Shopping lectures.  We do enjoy lectures on a variety of subjects, as well as games i.e. Crazy Golf, Scaventure Hunt, etc.

Any help from those who have sail a Trans Atlantic cruise on the Reflection or any of the Celebrity ships?

We are in our 70s.

Thanks.

Ellen

 

@In Toronto

 

Howdy Ellen!  

 

I suggest you research our Transatlantic, Transpacific, Repositioning & Trans-Ocean Cruises forum in the Special Interest Cruising section. That is where members discuss all aspects of sailing across the seas. Browse through the thread titles there and l👀k for titles of interest. You will probably find  your fellow Cruise Critic members have already posted questions and received answers that will be of interest to you.

 

And don't forget, after your cruise be sure to submit your review for publication by Cruise Critic. Many cruisers will benefit from your experience! See How To: Submit a Member Review.

 

I hope this will be helpful and glad to have you aboard Cruise Critic!  

 

Happy trails,

 

Host Kat  

[In Toronto]

Thank you Kat.  I looked there and a lot of helpful information.  I am now booked.

Appreciate your advice!

Ellen

[ClaudiaB]

I participated in a passenger choir with rehearsals every day, on both TAs we took.  So much fun with the vocal staff.   There are art classes and you don't have to be an artist.  All materials provided.   

There are craft classes but I haven't taken  them.   I do cross stitch and a group of us agreed to meet every day at a certain time up in the Sky lounge.   That was fun - - stitchers and knitters and hand quilters meet up in various places.   We played cards and when they had the hot glass show I went to one every day.  

We are not pool people at all but we did go into the indoor pool area to read and dip in our toes.   

We always found at least one of the lecturers interesting.   So between meals (we often skipped either breakfast or lunch on our hectic schedule ha ha ha) and all the above, the days went so fast!    We'll do a repositioning cruise again I'm sure.  Maybe pacific....

[In Toronto]

On 5/27/2021 at 3:48 PM, sandancer said:

Have you checked out our rollcall for this cruise?  Lots of information over there. 

Yes, I have looked at it.  Wow!  What an active Roll Call.  Will find my way to Page 14 and sign up.  

Ha Ha!

[sandancer]

You’ll be made very welcome. 

[Denny01]

We would look through the next day’s Daily and pick all kinds of things to do, even setting up a schedule…..and then we’d find ourselves relaxing or talking with new friends and so on, and miss half the things we’d planned on…..and loved it. 

 

And many of the posts have listed how much the ship has to do, and posts suggest you get on the cruise Roll Call. Do that because we ended up doing more through the Roll Calls. Here are some of the things the roll call set up:

1. A Cabin Crawl. Set up a number of different SR’s that all could tour and see what they looked like. From Inside to big Suites!

2. Games Socials. We set up times to get together and play card games, board games and dice games. we had a few couples from Wales who introduced us to card games and lots of us had great fun with it.

3. A Chocolate Tasting Social. All brought chocolate from their home area and set it up and we all walked around sampling it.  

4. Craft time. Some got together in the Sky Lounge and did their thing and shared.

5. Wine tasting. Each brought a wine from their region and shared.

6. General get togethers once we all met up. Many shared their SR numbers on a spreadsheet that was given to all and we could then call/leave notes. 

 

So the ship has a lot to do, and the Roll Call is a great place to meet up, and you can pick and choose what level of involvement you want to join in on. And what is so nice, is when you decide you need to just be unhooked from whatever you were going to join in on, you can just veg out on your own!

 

Den

[Germancruiser]

Each his own- but the main thing for me on a Transatlantic- I just love Tansatlantics- is that I have NO SCHEDULE- no plans whatsoever... wonderful. I can do as I please- never ever in my life have suffered from boredom.

Just a lecture here and there- a cabin crawl is always a nice option to see different cabins and meet nice people- but thats about it.

Edited May 29, 2021 by Germancruiser

[radarcruiser]

I rather enjoyed the champagne art shows on our TA a couple of years ago.  Pretty much bottomless champagne and fun people watching. Leave after three glasses and head to the golf match.

[ipeeinthepool]

Here’s a related question for the TAs.   How is the internet access?   Do you really have decent satellite coverage to provide reliable internet the entire trip or are many days with poor internet access?  

[TMLAalum]

Agree with suggestions to join the roll call since there will be activities organized by members that just might tickle your fancy.

 

Via roll calls I've organized book groups on several cruises that had lots of sea days. The coolest was when a poster volunteered that her husband had recently authored a book, The Third Law, and he would be happy to speak with those who read it. The turnout was @30! 

 

 

[sandancer]

2 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

Here’s a related question for the TAs.   How is the internet access?   Do you really have decent satellite coverage to provide reliable internet the entire trip or are many days with poor internet access?  

Patchy we found. Especially once we were mid Atlantic.  However I have to admit that we don’t use it much. Just to check family email. 

[JoePDX]

Love transatlantic cruises.     We have done three transatlantic cruises and one transpacific all on Celebrity.    On the sea days, as others have noted, you can easily have 2 or 3 things all happening at the same time.   I have never had a problem filling a day....and never once felt bored.  Roll calls for these cruises are often very very active.   

 

Since this is your first crossing, consider reading The Only Way to Cross by maritime historian John Maxtone-Graham.  It covers the history of transatlantic travel.   I read it before our first crossing in 2004 and it sparked a zeal for transatlantic history.   Imagine my surprise when we boarded and found out John was one of the lecturers.   Sadly he has passed away but leaves a rich history in his books.   The book is readily available on Amazon or eBay for just a few dollars.

 

Have a great trip!

 

Joe

 

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by JoePDX

[Andrewgary]

I love transatlantics and will also be on the April, 2022 Reflection. I am a creature of habit and my sea days are usually of the rinse and repeat variety. Get up early, have some coffee and grab a couple of lounges by the pool. Settle in with a good book, listen to a Spotify playlist on my earbuds, sign up for a poker tournament in the afternoon and get ready for trivia in the late morning. Have a burger (or two) and fries some time in the afternoon and take a dip in the pool. I really enjoy hanging by the pool most of the day with detours for trivia and poker. Back to the room around 5 for some veranda time and then dinner, maybe a show, and poker till they kick me out. We usually leave the door to the veranda open at night as we love the smell and sound of the sea.

Nothing beats a transatlantic.

[El Crucero]

At our age, we prefer TransOceanic crossings.  There is too much to do!!!!!  Whatever your interest(s), you will find more than enough to do.  We can't possibly do everything we would like to do from active pursuits to just hanging out.  I was a Gold X winner in the paper airplane flying contest on one T.A.  Huge audience in the main lobby 3 decks high watching the activity.  We are huge Trivial Pursuit fans and 2 or 3 different contests a day for different interests.  Don't miss the Silent Disco in the evening.  We are exhausted at the end of the day!  You need to pace yourself!

 

We find that T.O. crossings is a great way to make everlasting friends among your fellow passengers!

[Orator]

2 hours ago, JoePDX said:

Love transatlantic cruises.     We have done three transatlantic cruises and one transpacific all on Celebrity.    On the sea days, as others have noted, you can easily have 2 or 3 things all happening at the same time.   I have never had a problem filling a day....and never once felt bored.  Roll calls for these cruises are often very very active.   

 

Since this is your first crossing, consider reading The Only Way to Cross by maritime historian John Maxtone-Graham.  It covers the history of transatlantic travel.   I read it before our first crossing in 2004 and it sparked a zeal for transatlantic history.   Imagine my surprise when we boarded and found out John was one of the lecturers.   Sadly he has passed away but leaves a rich history in his books.   The book is readily available on Amazon or eBay for just a few dollars.

 

Have a great trip!

 

Joe

 

 

John Maxtone-Graham was wonderful! Met him and his son on a cruise. Very friendly! The Only Way to Cross is a very good read. He was the official historian for Celebrity.

[TMLAalum]

@Andrewgary

Related to grandparents with a summer home on the Cedar Point Causeway?

[Denny01]

11 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

Here’s a related question for the TAs.   How is the internet access?   Do you really have decent satellite coverage to provide reliable internet the entire trip or are many days with poor internet access?  

We’ve crossed on M- and S-Class ships. In earlier crossings, Internet was intermittent. But our last crossing on Silhouette in 2019 had stable connection. but I don’t use the internet for large transfers of ‘data’ such as videos and mega-sized usage. Normal emails, searches, tracking news and so on. Sent photos but usually small/midsize. 
 

den
 

 

[ipeeinthepool]

2 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

We’ve crossed on M- and S-Class ships. In earlier crossings, Internet was intermittent. But our last crossing on Silhouette in 2019 had stable connection. but I don’t use the internet for large transfers of ‘data’ such as videos and mega-sized usage. Normal emails, searches, tracking news and so on. Sent photos but usually small/midsize. 
 

den
 

 

Thanks